First a disclaimer. I like Don Cheadle. Think he's a great actor. The flawed detective in Crash . His portrayal of the heroic hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda . Even as the yuppie dentist opposite Adam Sandler earlier this year in Reign Over Me . So expectations were high as I walked into the theatre by myself a week ago to see Talk to Me . Yeah, by myself. I told you I like Don Cheadle.
Talk to Me is the story of Ralph Waldo 'Petey' Green, a former convict and real-life DJ at WOL-AM in Washington DC. DC in the mid 60's experienced much the same racial and social tension as many other U.S. cities. One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film takes place when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis. As citizens respond to the news by rioting in the streets, the distraught and angry Petey Green decides to go on the air and plead for people to honor the memory of Dr King. Cheadle absolutely nails the moment, capturing Green's rage at those who killed King and compassion for his people, his city. The primary story throughout the film involves Petey Green's volatile relationship with WOL's station manager, Dewey Hughes (played convincingly by Chiwetal Ejiofor). But if the story is ultimately about the camaraderie and competitiveness between Green and Hughes, the backdrop is often one of injustice and racism. Cheadle and Ejiofor demonstrate the very real struggle of Green and Hughes to live, work, and succeed in a culture intrinsically opposed to their triumph. As an aside, WOL-AM has grown into the flagship station for Radio One , an African-American managed media corporation with radio stations around the country.For many viewers, it could be easy to see Talk to Me simply as an excellent portrayal of historical events. It would be tempting to leave the themes of injustice and racism that run throughout the film in the past, along with the events the film portrays. This would be a mistake. While we no longer live in the 1960's of Talk to Me, it would be ridiculous to claim we haven't dragged our cultural inequalities with us through the decades.
Case in point. A few days ago on this site Steve pointed out the ongoing case of the Jena 6. There's been very little media attention on this case (CNN has a reference here , and FOX has two brief stories, here and here ) so you may have missed it thus far. The best synopsis of the story, though it's a few weeks old, may come from the Herald Tribune.
An all-white jury was seated Tuesday to hear the case against the first of the "Jena Six" a group of black youths accused of beating a white fellow student amid racial discord at a Louisiana school.
The racial tension began in late August in Jena a central Louisiana town of 2,900 with about 350 black residents after a black student sat under a tree traditionally used as a gathering spot by white students. The next month, three nooses were hanging in the tree when students arrived on campus.
"You didn't see the district attorney rush out to school to do anything about those nooses in the tree," said Caseptla Bailey, whose son, Robert Bailey Jr., also was charged in the beating. "You don't see white kids who beat up black kids charged with attempted murder. There's nothing fair going on here."
There are at least two potential responses a person can have to a film like Talk to Me. We can view it's fascinating story as something contained in the past, happy we no longer live in such an era. Or, we can wonder if such things continue today. For some, there is no need to wonder...experience is enough to see that the more things change the more they stay the same. Others of us (and let's be honest, we're talking about those of us who've experienced the privileges of the white middle and upper-class) desperately need films like Talk to Me to make us aware that stories of prejudice and racism continue all around us. As one living in the Midwest I can attest that a drive to Jena, LA is not necessary to uncover societal inequality.
I really liked Talk to Me. Cheadle and company were great, the story was compelling, and the view into history informative. But perhaps I am one of those who needed this story mostly for what it says about our world today. For it's ability to point out stories like the Jena 6. Any film that does this is worth the price of admission. Even if you have to see it alone.
